


Hold Me Close, I'm Too Weak

by cinnamontoffee



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sharing a Bed, bad memories, blood mention, death mention, give judith a hug please, mention of estelle, spoilers for labyrinth of memories, spoilers for silence of the dragon rider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:55:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22269028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamontoffee/pseuds/cinnamontoffee
Summary: Yuri finds Judith thrashing in her sleep one night.
Relationships: Judith & Yuri Lowell, Judith/Yuri Lowell
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Hold Me Close, I'm Too Weak

**Author's Note:**

> The Yuri/Judith tag only has 22 fics and most are either smut or multiship. So uh here's some pure? Also I say spoiler for Labyrinth of Memories yet I haven't done it. I have seen some stuff. But I would like to say it's because of this that I found the Definitive map for it so I now have the correct version :') Also please read Silence of the Dragon Rider. It's Judith's novels.

There's a scream in the dead of night.

There's another scream. And another. And one more.

There are odd, but audible thuds coming from the other side of the wall.

And there are a mixture of screams and thuds coming from the room next door.

Yuri was about to fall asleep when the sudden noises began. The sun would be up in a few hours, and he kept saying that he would resolve this bad sleeping habit, but he stayed up with Judith hours earlier, when she could not sleep. They spoke, they bantered and they reminisced for hours, losing track of time. They should not have done this, only earlier that day, the group was triumphant in their exploration of The Labyrinth of Memories. The vigilante told his friend to go sleep before him, she was running on nearly two days without sleep. As soon as she hit the bed, Judith knocked out. But as Yuri readied himself to finally sleep, the screams had begun. He was unsure of how nobody woke up to the noise.  
 _Just a nightmare.._ he initially thought, before the thudding began. _A reallllly animated nightmare.._ he thought again, until-

"Dad!! Don't leave me!! You can't-"

Shit. Now he really had to get over there. Yuri exited his temporary room, into the hallways of Yumanju's inn. Approaching the door of Judith's room, another loud, but now panicked outburst came.

"I'm going to die like Dad did, I'm gonna die- SOMEBODY HELP!"

"Judy! Open the door!" Yuri rapped the door.

More screaming was emitted from the room, along with a sharp bang and a writhing screech. He couldn't wait for a response. He hastily opened the door to find the bed shifted diagonally, with his Krityan friend's head against the nightstand. Judith continued to thrash, hitting the wooden stand next to her. Yuri rushed to her side, and began to shake her.

"Judy wake up, you have to wake up."

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"DAMMIT JUDITH GET UP!"

She woke up. Judith's first instinct once sitting up was to remove her glove, and place her hand against her face. Moist, she was cold sweating, she moved her hand to her heart. Her heartbeat was at a rapid tempo, with no intentions of slowing down. She finally felt a stinging pain in her left antenna, it must have been squeezed between the bed frame and the wooden nightstand. The Krityan didn't say a word, she gazed at Yuri's face, trying her hardest to casually flirt as if it were all normal, but she could not find a voice.

"...Is everything okay?" the swordsman asked gently, seating himself beside his friend. _Stupid question, of course she isn't._ Still unable to manage a word, Judith lied by nodding positively, but her bodily shaking gave away. Yuri knew better than to press further, and maybe just to leave her now that she was awake from the nightmare, but as he got up, Judy snatched his arm with her bare hand, digging her fingernails into it. Wincing in pain, Yuri took the signal to return to his seat.

"I-I'm sorry, don't worry about me, I-I'll be fine." the krityan finally managed, still shaking.

"If you're gonna talk now, at least tell the truth."

Judith sighed. "When we were still exploring the labyrinth, and we were warped to Temza, memories of the war came back to me. I was just reminded of that day over ten years ago."

"When we found ourselves at the summit, it reminded me of the good times of flying on Ba'ul with my dad. But it also reminded me of the last time I saw him. And seeing the crater again reminded me of the mass destruction, and witnessing the death of my homeland."

Yuri wrapped one arm around Judith's back, rubbing it, while gently stroking her damaged antenna with his free hand. He was able to feel her shiver and the goosebumps that formed along with it. It had hurt him to see his normally somewhat calm and collected friend in such a vulnerable state.

"I held it in long enough until after we cleared the labyrinth, and I was able to forget it while we spoke. But as soon as I fell asleep, I found myself in the flames and destruction of Temza Village," Judy's voice trembled, "all I saw were red, fire, and blood. The blood of m-my people splattered all over me, and I was burnt too. Then I found my father.... and I relived his death." The young woman tried her hardest to not begin crying, sniffling and closing her eyes tight. Her friend frowned harder at the sorry state she was in.

_Don't let ANYONE see how weak you are._

"But I'm fine, I have had worse nightmares, some so bad that when I woke up, I began to throw up everywhere." She tried to laugh off weakly.

_Dammit Judith STOP ACTING SO WEAK._

"Even though you haven't puked, I'm still worried about you, the few times you do sleep it's usually restless and you're exhausted once awake." Yuri tried to comfort her.

_You are fine._

"I'm okay, thanks Yuri."

_Don't you DARE._

"No problem, I'll be here if you need me." Yuri was about to get up to leave.

_Judith, no._

She could not hold it in any longer. She broke down right then and there. Judith couldn't take it anymore. She let out all of her pent up emotions in front of her closest friend, something she had been trying to avoid. As if instinctively, Yuri pulled her into an embrace, allowing her to cry onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please don't think differently of me." the krityan's voice was broken and muffled as she hugged her friend tightly.

"I won't, I'm sorry you're feeling like this." Yuri began to rub her back once again, beginning to feel his friend's sorrow. _I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner to be able to help._ "Would you like me to stay with you tonight? I really don't mind at all, and who cares about what the others may say." he offered, and Judith nodded, face still into her friend's body. He gently pushed her to lay on the bed before climbing in himself and pulling the sheet over the pair. Yuri pulled his friend into another hug, but Judith nestled her head at the crook of his neck. Her face was red and blotchy, eyes puffy and left antenna throbbing slightly. She felt safe and relaxed against him, he was warm and comforting.

"I'll ask Estelle to cast a heal on the antenna in the morning," Yuri's voice softened as he pulled Judy closer, "you're safe with me, I've got you."

"Thank you, Yuri," she croaked out before coughing a bit, "good night."

"Good night, Judy." Judith did not take long to fall back asleep, while Yuri waited longer than until she fell into a calm and rhythmic slumber to finally sleep. He lightly pressed his mouth against her head, and finally drifted off to sleep.


End file.
